Everything But The Girl - Walking Wounded

I first saw Everything But The Girl at the Royal Albert Hall in 1987. It was a night I'll always remember for several reasons. One, it was the first show I saw in the RAH, which is one of the best places you can ever see anyone. Two, I thought EBTG were amazing. I didn't know their music very well, but my fiend Tommy Oliphant was a big fan and he convinced me to buy the tickets even though I was flat broke. Soon after the show (when I got a little money) I bought all their records. The third and final reason is that I got soaked on the way to the show. A cab hit a huge puddle and splashed half a swimming pool all over me. I was so wet, I stripped down to my jeans and T-shirt during the show and hung all my clothes, including my socks over the balcony to dry out a little while we enjoyed the music.

To me EBTG is like two different bands. The 80's version was more in the 4AD vein - alternative, jazz-pop. 1984's Eden and 1986's Idlewild are the two best records from this era. In the 90's EBTG went electronic and the result is two amazing records Walking Wounded and their last effort in 1999, Temperamental. You won't go wrong with any of these records.

Tiger is out

And just like that Tiger is out of the Accenture Match Play Championship. Bummer. He looked so good yesterday when he dispatched little know Brendan Jones that we were getting the congratulations ad ready, but match play is unpredictable and Tim Clark took him out 4 and 2 today. The good news in all of this is I am still doing well in the office pool. I am currently sitting second and if Ogilvy beats Villegas, I think I have a clear shot at first, with a nice $150 payout. We'll see what the weekend brings.

Sunday is Back

After eight long months Tiger Woods is finally back playing competitve golf. He opens his season tomorrow at the Accenture Match Play Championship and needless to say everyone is eagerly awaiting his return. Well, maybe not everyone...

This spot will be running on ESPN and the Golf Channel starting tomorrow. Hopefully Tiger will be in the hunt this weekend and you will see it a lot.

Talking on the Bus

I don't like to talk to people on the bus. On the way home I always wear my headphones and I don't make eye contact. On the way to work I have not always been so lucky. Earlier in the week I saw my neighbor who normally rides his bike to work, but that day he decided to take the bus. We ended up talking all the way to downtown. The problem is that he is a really nice guy and it would have been great to have him over to the house to get to know him, but I don't like to talk on the bus. I don't like those people I normally make fun of for telling their life stories on the bus, hearing me tell my life story. If you know me and we see each other on the bus you should say hello and then enjoy your ride quietly. If you have to talk, wait until we get off the bus.

Today I met a guy who loves to talk on the bus. This rasta guy is a T-shirt designer. He doesn't like to buy stuff on the Internet, he likes to support local shops. He is also very anxious to hear people's opinion on how we can get more cars off the street. He didn't go to college, but wanted to hear where we all went to college and what we studied. Again a lovely guy that I am sure would have been very interesting to talk to if we weren't on the bus.

In Japan, people get very uncomfortable if you talk to them on public transportation. I think we should all learn form this.

Bob Schneider - Songs Sung and Played at the Same Time

I have only seen Bob Schneider live once and it was a solo show. My brother is a big fan and he got us tickets for the show when we were home for Christmas a few years ago. I really hadn't heard much of his music before, and what I had heard was with his full band. The concert was excellent. Schneider is a great storyteller, and is very funny. His songs are a great mix of dark ballads and hilarious ditties, that sound like he is making them up on the spot. What I can't figure out is how autobiographical the songs are; he's lived a pretty rough life if they are all about things he has really lived through. Songs Sung and Played at the Same Time is the CD he was selling after the show that basicaly had the entire set of songs he had just played on it. It contains 35 songs and I have not been able to find the same line up anywhere on the net, so if you can't find it I would recommend Lonelyland. One of my all time favorite songs is "2002" if anyone has ever had a worse year they should write a song about it.

Fuller's Restaurant

It seems strange that I have never written anything about Fullers as I eat there about once a week. Fullers is a classic dinner that serves breakfast all day and has great lunch fare as well. Some people, me among them, think they have one of the best burgers in Portland. I am not one to branch out that much, but I have tried a few other things. The club sandwich is great, the omelets are huge and very tasting, I love the meatloaf sandwich and the open faced turkey sandwich is great too. My boss Dan Wieden says they have the best razor clams in town. I am not a fan of razor clams, but if you like that sort of thing it does get mentioned a lot in the tour guides. Fullers has great milkshakes, malts and other sweet stuff like different pies every day. There are also some good daily specials, like the econo-meal which is soup, a half sandwich and potato salad for $6.95. The waitresses are all very nice and super attentive, you should give them a big tip, if you can, to make up for all the old people who eat there and don't tip well.

Fuller's Restaurant

136 NW 9th Ave

Portland, OR 97209

(503) 222-5608

The Portland Hat

I will grant you it has been a little cold here lately, probably in the mid-40s. But temperature is irrelevant when it comes to head wear in Portland. It can be in the mid-60s and people will still wear their wool head covering. In fact you can see guys in shorts and T-shirts with a wool hat on. For women you need to have interesting colors or patterns and something hanging off it. For men it can also be colorful, but more likely you are going for the WW II GI issue wool cap with the visor or a Navy issue blue stocking cap to go with the pea coat.

The Wrestler

This movie has been billed as the resurrection on Mickey Rourke, and I think that is fair. This is an actor who has brought us some good performances over the years and some truly awful ones; this is his best. That said, it's not perfect. There are times the movie gets overly sentimental and looses touch with its gritty nature.

The Wrestler is the story of Randy "the Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler who's best days are behind him. His body is severely damaged from years of applying the Ram Slam and metal folding chairs to his head. Yet he continues to put on shows: pumping iron, popping pain pills, dying his long blond hair, tanning and injecting steroids. After one particularly gruesome show, he collapses from heart failure. As he tries to come to terms with retiring he pursues a relationship with a stripper (Marisa Tomei) and tries to repair the relationship with his estranged daughter. Ultimately working menial jobs and the real world can not replace the desire to perform.

This is not the feel good movie of the year, and its also not the best movie of the year. It is a small interesting character study with a couple of actors doing some of their best work. The reviews for this film are great and I don't disagree with them, I just wonder if people were so pleasantly surprised by Rourke that they gushed a little too much. I know the genie is out of the bottle, but I wish we all could have found this movie without the hype.

Navarre Resturant

Usually having dinner with a group of friends allows me the freedom to enjoy a resturant more than just going with Barbara; the pressure of choosing a bad place is off your sholders. Unfortunatley that was not the case with Navarre. I liked the look of the place and the wait staff were very nice, but the food was not great. I can say the wine was excellent thanks to one of the party being a huge wine conissoure. The service was also attentive without being pushy. Another thing that sounded great was the choice to let them choose the menu. They serve small family style mediteranian dishes, almost like tapas. Again this would have been great but nothing really jumped off the plate for me. As we left we said this is probably not a place we'd come back to, however I just got a $100 gift certificate to Navarre so we'll give them a second chance.

Navarre
10 NE 28th street, #503
Portland, OR 97232

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found

Charlie (Cody Nickel) is a 28 year-old, stressed-out ad guy on the verge of a major breakdown. The play opens on Charlie in the London Underground lost and found, he has just awoken from a black-out and is trying to piece together what has happened to him. As the story unfolds we find out his mother has just died, he owes his drug dealer a lot of money and he is about to get done for embezzlement by the company he works for. All of this sets us up nicely for the title of the play, How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found.

As a substantially older ad guy who has sometimes fantasized about getting away from it all, this show seemed like a possible how-to guide. In a way it is, but in a much larger way it is a warning that there are no easy answers. It also raises interesting questions about identity and how easily we could loose or change it. I couldn't help thinking about all those folks in New Orleans. If your house was washed away and all the government offices full of birth certificates and drivers licences were washed away, how would you prove who you are?

If you go see this play, get there early and sit up close. Also be prepared to forgive some lapses in the British accents.

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found is playing January 27-March 22 in the Ellyn Bye Studio at Portland Center Stage. It was written by Fin Kennedy and directed by Rose Riordan. It runs about 2 hours with one intermission.

Kashmere Stage Band

In a continuing effort to bring you records you may have missed, I present the Kashmere Stage Band, Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974. Kashmere High School is a predominantly black high school in a Houston neighborhood called Kashmere Gardens. Their now famous music teacher, Conrad O. Johnson, attended an Otis Redding concert in 1967 decided to bring this style of music to his classes and developed one of the best high school bands there has ever been. The stage band should not be confused with the equally famous high stepping marching band you see perform at half time of football games. These guys, many who went on to be professional musicians, were a concert band that played in and won just about every competition they ever entered. While most of their albums came out before my time, they are now a favorite of djs and hip hop artists who sample freely from the work of KSB.

Can you have too many chains?

This may be hard to see as taking a picture at night on a bus is pushing the capabilities of the iPhone camera, but this guy has at least 20 chains hanging off his pants. It's like he got into some kind of competition with his friends and was so determined to win that he lost all sense of reality and most of his ability to walk. Or maybe he has to carry a lot of money and wanted to chain each wallet to his pants, which seems like a bad idea because I don't think you'd want to draw this much attention to yourself if you were carrying a lot of money.

Pandora Radio

OK, I know Pandora Radio has been around for a while, but I just found it. If you haven't checked it out yet, I would highly recommend it. The principle is pretty simple and elegant. You type in the name of your favorite band and you get a virtual radio station that plays songs from that band and other bands like it. So of course I typed in the Sex Pistols and I got a stream of old and new school punk rock from the Ramones to Bad Religion to Green Day. You also get the chance to give songs the thumbs up or down, so it will start feeding you more of what you like and less of what you don't like. Another great feature is the artist histories which are too long to read when you are listening to three minute punk rock songs, but you could probably finish if you were listening to the Phish or Yes. I would recommend putting in a few very different artists so you have a wider spectrum of music to listen to based on your mood. Putting in the Clash and the Sex Pistols pretty much gets you the same stuff. Another great thing, it works on all your portable devises. If you have an iPhone or iTouch you should of course download the app from the iTunes store for free.

Blazers vs. Knicks

Taking a little break from all the Coraline sales numbers to catch the Blazers game. The Oregon Humane Society has a booth at the game and Barbara had a few dogs out on the court before the game.

Coraline World Premier

Thursday night was the world premier of Laika's new animated movie Coraline. We have been helping with the marketing of the film, so we were all invited. The premier was held at the Arlene Shnitzer Theater in Portland. There were kluge lights, a red carpet, tons of press and all the stuff you would expect at a world premier, including stars. The voice talent Dakota Fanning and Terry Hatcher both flew up from LA, of course they came in a private jet.

The day started by meeting the crew from Focus Features, the distribution company that we have been talking to on the phone for five months. It was great to finally meet them, they are all really nice people. After a tour of W+K and a drink it was time to get cleaned up and head over to the premier. I decided to dress up a little even though this is Portland and you can go most anywhere in jeans. It was a lot of fun to stand outside the theater and watch people arrive. Of course we saw the stars show up, but it was also great to see Phil and Travis Knight work the red carpet. I thought we were going to have trouble when a crew of W+K folks showed up in a Hummer stretch limo and tried to go down the red carpet.

Once everyone was in the theater, we heard speeches from Phil Knight, the Governor, Travis Knight and the director Henry Selick. In a very embarrassing moment, Henry included me in his thank yous, which resulted in a lot of guff from the W+K folks in the crowd. Then the moment we'd all been waiting for, the movie started. The last time I saw it there were about five minutes left to animate and none of the music was finished. Needless to say it did not disappoint. The film was beautiful and sounded amazing, which is good because it cost a lot of money to get the 3-D projector and the screen in the theater. If you see this film (and I hope you will) make sure you see it in 3-D.

After the movie, there was a great party across the street at the Performing Arts Center. The room was beautiful. They brought in several of the sets from the film, and had a couple of stations set up where animators and puppet makers showed people how they made the movie. The food and drinks were all pretty great too. I also finally got the chance to meet Neil Gaiman, the author of the book Coraline. He was very nice and had a lot of compliments on the work we had been doing on the movie. To cap the night off, we got the news that the NY Times had given Coraline a great review, which made everyone very happy.

I'll post more pictures on my flickr site next week.

Pink Martini - Hey Eugene!

A little shout out to my favorite Portland band, Pink Martini. I first saw them at my friend Lisa Brown's wedding in 1995. I didn't know then that they were actually pretty famous and had toured all over Europe. I have since heard them play with the Portland Symphony and Thomas Lauderdale, one of the founders of the band, loves the acoustics at the building I work in, so he plays the piano in the lobby a lot. They have a few records out and honestly they are all good, so don't feel like you have to just get Hey Eugene! I only listed that here because it is the newest one and the one I have been listening to most lately. Musically these guys are from a bygone era, but they have a wit and sensibility that is very modern.

Sleeping on the Bus

Seeing this drooling kid passed out on the bus made me think, I would have to be pretty tired to touch my face to the side of the bus. It also reminded me of a time when I was almost that tired. When I lived in London I could not afford cab fare, so if you were out late and the Tube was closed, the only way home was the late bus. As you probably figured out the only people on the late bus are drunk and poor, not a good combination. A lot of people fell asleep (passed out) on the late bus and missed their stop. The only thing worse than being drunk and tired is being drunk, tired and a long way from home. So one Saturday night I saw an interesting sight. A girl was passed on on the bus, but she had the foresight to make a sign and hang it around her neck that said, "wake me in Brixton.". The good news is someone was still awake to shake her (I didn't want to touch my face to the bus).

Pay Your Taxes People

Haven't we learned by now that you have to pay your taxes if you are
going to run for public office? There are no free limo rides,
corporate jets and the easiest one of all, you have to pay the cleaner
and baby sitters withholding taxes. Come on people this is future
cabinet member 101 stuff. Now here we are bogged down with two
embarrassing withdrawals and another near miss (although the
international company one was a little tricky). I think the bottom
line is, if the FBI has to tell you about a tax mistake your CPA is
not doing a very good job or more likely you thought you'd get away
with it. You won't, so let's all cut out the nonsense.

Who is this Guy?

Sometimes I sit on the bus and I wonder what the people I see sitting across from me do when they are not on the bus. This is one of the people I always see when I am a little late. He has a very peculiar style of dress, not homeless but not well dressed either. It makes me think he is either way over dressed for some blue collar job (why does he need a brief case if he is a janitor?) or he is way under dressed for some office job (think the stapler guy in Office Space). Also, he gets off the bus right before the Morrison Bridge at around 9:10 every day. Don't most jobs start at 9:00? I think one day I am going to follow him to see where he goes.

Super Bowl Sunday

You may watch the Super Bowl for the football, but I work in advertising, so to me, the ads are just as important. Here's what stood out (good and bad) to me:

Audi - Nice continuing tie-in with the movie Transporter. I liked the way he passed up the Lexus for the Audi and the 70's and 80's footage was cool.
Pedigree Adoption Drive - "Should have gotten a dog." Inappropriate pets are funny, you can't play Frisbee with a water buffalo.
Coke - My good friend Eric "SuperBowl" Samsel did a nice job with the Avatar spot, and the picnic spot was beautiful, right in the Coke wheelhouse.
Pepsi - Nice spot that juxtapositions Dylan with will.i.am, Gumby and Shrek, Belushi and Jack Black. They asked us if they could put Coraline footage in there, but looks like we got bumped for Shrek. McGruber was funny. In my opinion , Pepsi wins the cola wars.
Carrer Builder - In the battle of job sites, I think the CB.com spots were funnier than the Monster.com ones.
Doritos - The crystal ball spot was funny, but the crunch spot was pretty crass.
Bud - These guys ran a lot of ads, but none of them were very good, although the Conan Swedish ad was a little funny.
Miller High Life - I love the one second commercial and the play they got out of it leading up to the Super Bowl.
Jack in the Box - Jack gets hit by a bus and we're supposed to go to hangintherejack.com to see what happens, but it looks like the server got hit by a bus too, I could not get it to come up.
Cash4Gold - Are you kidding me? You know the economy is in the toilet if these guys can afford a Super Bowl spot. And it was funny.
Some pretty crappy movies - Did you see anything you are super excited about? The Will Farrel (Land of the Lost) and Jack Black (Year One) flicks both looked OK, but not great. Monsters vs. Aliens will of course be a big hit, but who had the 3-D glasses?

I thought there were several good spots, but no A+'s. You can see all the spots again and vote for your favorite at hulu (who made a pretty funny spot themselves with Alec Baldwin). BTW - pretty good game too.